Cultivator attachment.



l. E. FRANKLIN. CULTIVATOR-ATTACHMENT. APPLICATION HL'ED Auc.21.x91s.

Patented Apr. 22,1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET lmum J. E. FRANKLIN. CULTIVATOR ATTACHMENT. APPLTCATION FILED auehz l. 1918.

1 ,30 1 1 6, Patented Apr. 22, 1919 T 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- awvewtoz ETNTTED STATES ATENT QFFICE.

JOHN EDWARD FRANKLIN, OF UDALL, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN F. SAYE, OF

' GALENA, MISSOURI.

CULTIVATOR ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 22, 1919.

Application filed August 21, 1918. Serial No. 250,825. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN EDWARD FRANK LIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Udall, in the county of Cowley and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cultivator Attachments; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art towhieh it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to cultivator attachments, and more particularly to an attachment especially adapted for use in connection with a lister cultivator.

One of the main objects of this invention is to provide an attachment for a lister cultivator which will operate in the lister row or furrow to break up and thoroughly pulverize the crust which forms after rain, thus permitting the plants to easily germinate.

A further object is to provide an attachment of the character stated of simple construction and operation which maybe readily applied to a lister cultivator of standard construction.

Another object is to provide an attachmentso mounted as to be normally held in operating engagement with the ground surface While having vertical movement in the event that substances of unusual hardness are encountered, so as to prevent breakage of the attachment.

Other objects will appear from the detailed description.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of an attachment constructed in accordance with my invention, as applied,

Fig. 2 is a side view of the same,

Fig. 3 is a transverse section, taken through the drum or roller,

Fig. 4: is a longitudinal section through the drum or roller and associated parts,

Fig. 5 is a detail of the connection between one of the pressure rods and the roller,

Fig. 6 is a perspective detail of one of the securing clamps for the drawbars,

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view of the securing means for one of the tooth support ing slats.

- This attachment is intended to be used in connection with a lister cultivator, desig nated generally by A, of any standard or suitable construction, having the shovel arms B, which are adapted to be lifted or lowered by means of the operating lever C and assoc ated parts, and the disk shaft D. All of these parts are of standard construction and need not beffurther described in detail, as they form no part of my invention except in so far as they cooperate with means to be hereinafter described for accomplishing the desired results.

My attachment comprises, broadly stated, a drum or roller, indicated generally by l, which is secured on a shaft 2 journaled in bearing boxes 3, carried by drawbars 4, which are adapted to be secured at their forward ends to the disk shaft D by means of hinge joints 5, so as to permit vertical movement of the drum or roller 1. It will be understood, of course, that the bearing boxes 3 may be formed integrally with the drawbars 4C, or these elements, as well as the drawbars, may be of any suitable or preferred construction and secured together in any desired manner. The shaft 2 is normally forced downwardly by means of expansion coil springs 6, mounted about gage rods 7 and confined between an enlarged flattened head 8, formed at the lower end of'the rod and a washer 9 mounted on the rod above the spring.v The flattened head 8 at the lower end of the rod fits snugly into a recess 10 provided in the bearing or journal block 11 forthis purpose, a suitable pivot pin 12 being inserted through the head and the block.

As will be noted, the pivot pin is disposed in parallelism with shaft 2, so as to permit rocking movement of gage rod 7, at

the lower end thereof, about an axis parallel with the axis of the shaft, thus accommodating vertical movement of the roller. The gage rod 7 is connected to the shovel arm B by means of a clamp device, designated generally-by 13. This clamp device comprises opposed gripping arms 14, which are secured about, and recessed to snugly receive the shovel arm B, one of the gripping arms being provided with a peripheral groove which receives a loop 15*, carrying an L-shaped supporting arm 15", provided with a rearwardly directed fork 15 each arm 15 of ments.

which has at its outer end a vertically disposed eye 16. These eyes loosely receive gudgeons 17, which project from an eye 18 integral therewith, which slidably'receives the gage rod 7, this eye 18 being positioned between washer 9 and an adjusting collar19 mounted on the upper end portion of rod 7 and secured in vertical adjustment thereon by means of a set screw 20. In this manner the attachment is secured to the cultivator so as to have independent rocking movement vertically, and the roller 1 is normally held depressed by the expansion-springs 6, while having vertical movement under excessive pressure.

The roller comprises spaced end frames or spiders 21, each comprising a hub 22, provided with radiating spokes 23, which carry the relatively thick rim 24; and the tooth supporting slats 25 secured to the rim and carrying the teeth or pulverizing ele= Each of the slats 25 is provided with a central tooth 26 of substantially ta= pered pyramidal shape, this tooth being provided with a reduced shank 27 inserted through the slat, a securing nut 28 being screwed on the inner end of the shank. Ad'- jacent each end, the slat is further provided with a substantially cylindrical tooth 29, which is riveted in the slat, the outer end portion of this tooth being inclined or beveled in the direction of rotation of the roller,- as at 29 to provide an entering edge. As will be noted more clearly from Fig. 1 of the drawings, the teeth of the slats 25 are disposed in staggered relation, the teeth on one slat filling the spaces between the teeth on the succeeding slat. In this manner, I insure that the ground over which the roller is 'moved will be thoroughly broken up and pulverized so as to permit ready passage of the young plants therethrough, while also producing a dust mulsh, which serves to retain moisture in the soil and prevent excessive drying thereof. As will be noted more clearly from Figs. 4 and 2 of the drawings, certain of the slats 25 are secured to the rims 24 by bolt and nut means, as at 30, the other slats being secured to the rims and to spokes 23 byriveting, as at 81, in Fig. 7-. This permits some of the slats to be readily removed from the e'd frames of the roller so as to render ready access to the interior thereof possible for cleaning, repairs and similar purposes.

It will be understood, of course, that any particular slats desired may be removably secured, depending upon the particular style,.si'Ze, etc., of roller employed.

--In practice, the roller used is approximately twelve inches in l'ength'so as to fit in the lister furrow. This device is readily attached to a lister cultivator of standard construction and acts, as the cultivator is drawn along the row, to efiectually break up and pulveriZ-e the surfa'ceof the soil ;in the furrow. In this manner, the hard crust which forms upon the surface portion of the soil after rains such as occur dun-no the corn planting and raising season, is edectually broken up and pulverized. This renders it possible for the plants of medium strength to push through the soil, thus preventing the loss of seed, such as frequently occurs inlister planting where a hard crust forms and is not broken up, this hard crust serving to prevent the passage therethrough of practically all but the hardiest of the plants. 7 7 I 7 It will be evident that there may be slight changes made in the construction and arrangement of the different parts of'my invention without departing from the field and scope of the same, and I intend to include all such variations, as fall within the scope of the appended claims, in this application in which a preferred form only of my invention is disclosed.

What I claim'is: 4 I

l. The combination with a cultivator, of a roller carried thereby for independent vertical movement said rollerbeing adapted to it is dragged, means for exerting downwardv pressure upon the roller so as to hold it in close contact'with the ground surface, and connections between the roller and the shovel arms of the cultivator for raising said roller simultaneously with the raising of said arms. M p

2. The combination with the cultivator, of a roller,- connections between said roller and the cultivatorfor dragging the roller in rear of the cultivator while permitting independent vertical movement thereof, the roller being adapted to operate in a lister furrow and having ground-working elements for breaking up and pulverizing the soil over which the roller is moved, and connections between the roller and the shovel arms of the cultivator for causing simultaneous and similar movement of said roller when the arms are moved into and out of operative position. V v,

3, The combination with a cultivator having vertically movalole shovel arms, of a roller adapted to operate in a lister furrow, said roller being provided with a plurality of ground-working elements adapted to engage and break up soil over which the roller is moved, connections between the roller and cultivatorfor dragging said roller in rear of the cultivator while permitting independent vertical movement thereof, and connection-s between the shovel arms and the roller for causing simultaneous and similar movement of said roller when the shovel arms are moved into or out of operative position, said connections being adapted to permit independent vertical movement of the roller.

4. The combination with a cultivator including shovel arms, of a roller adapted to operate in a lister furrow and provided with ground-working elements, connections between said roller and the cultivator for dragging the roller in rear of the cultivator, said connections being adapted to permit independent vertical movement of the roller, and connections between said shovel arms and the roller for adjusting the roller vertically in accordance with adjustments in the shovel arms, said connections serving to exert downward pressure upon the roller so as to hold the ground-working elements thereof in close contact with the soil while permitting independent vertical movement of the roller under excessive upward pressure.

5. The combination with a cultivator including shovel arms and a disk shaft, of spaced drawbars hingedly secured at their forward ends to said shaft, a roller supported between said bars and provided with a plurality of ground-working elements, connections [between the drawbars and said shovel arms for causing adjustment of the former simultaneously with and similarly to adjustments of the latter, said connections being adapted to permit independent vertical movement of the drawbars, and means for exerting downward pressure upon the draw bars so as to normally hold the roller in engagement with the surface of the soil over which it is moved.

6. The combination with a cultivator including a disk shaft and shovel arms, of spaced drawbars hingedly secured at their forward ends to the shaft, a roller carried between said bars, said roller being adapted to operate in a lister furrow and having a plurality of ground-working elements, rearwardly projecting securing devices secured to the shovel bars and each provided with an eye supported for rocking movement about an axis parallel with the axis of rotation of said roller, gage rods slidable through said eyes and secured at their lower ends to said drawbars for rocking movement about a common axis parallel with the axis of the roller, collars secured on the gage rods above said eyes so as to positively limit downward movement of said rods therethrough, and expansion springs mounted about the gage rods and confined between the eyes and the lower end portion of said rods so as to exert downward pressure on the rods, said collars being adjustable longitudinally of the rods so as to vary the compression of said springs.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature 50 in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN EDWARD FRANKLIN.

Witnesses:

Ross WILKINs, GEo. M. BREWER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

